BY JODI PERL-ODELL | When Sadie Grace Perl walked down Ludlow St., people couldn’t help but feel happy. Maybe it was the sashay in her walk or the never-ending grin plastered across her furry face, but she made friends everywhere she went while she was living in the Lower East Side. Local 138, Ludlow Blunt, read more here »

Early Sunday afternoon, in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, a crew of canines and a couple cats in carriers were brought to the W. Houston St. garden side of St. Anthony’s Church, on Sullivan St., to be blessed. Father Joe, above left, conducted the ceremony and prayers, then he and Brother Courtland spritzed holy water on read more here »

BY HEATHER DUBIN | Sprawled on a bench in the Tompkins Square Park dog run, Bailey, a 6-year-old Siberian and Alaskan Husky/Greyhound mutt, was taking a brief rest. Her owner, Cassie Heck, a dog walker, was between clients in the East Village, and the two of them hit the park for a break. Heck, who read more here »

Larry Reddick, a.k.a. “The Bird Guy,” was entertaining people in Washington Square Park last Saturday, as he drew a flock of pigeons with shouts of “Over there!” followed by tosses of handfuls of birdseed. “They know my voice,” he said of the birds. The pigeons like to perch on him, as well as on unsuspecting read more here »

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON | Deziree Lengal, Randy Guzman and their pigeon pal, Lucia Lengal, make a terrific team. Last Thursday afternoon, they were getting a snack at the Quick Stop Deli, at the corner of Sixth Ave. and Bedford St. Deziree, 17, and Randy, 22, met as students at Julia Richman Educational Complex on the read more here »

Phil Mouquinho and Cairo were out on the corner of Greenwich and Charlton Sts. on a blustery Thursday afternoon last week in front of Mouquinho’s P.J. Charlton restaurant. They had been greeting kids from the Children’s Museum of the Arts down the block. The German shepherd is a certified service dog that the restaurateur / read more here »

Mascot Studio, a combination gallery and custom framing shop, at 328 E. Ninth St., that has been operated by owner Peter McCaffrey since 1982, is once again celebrating “the spirit of the dog” in its 15th annual exhibition of canine-oriented painting, illustration and photography. The Villager’s own award-winning photographer Bob Krasner is participating for the read more here »

BY HEATHER DUBIN | Stray voltage from a sidewalk in the East Village shocked three dogs during early-morning walks with their owners last Sunday. Con Edison workers later determined a burned piece of service cable was to blame for the voltage, which was discovered in scaffolding at a construction site on Second Ave. between E. read more here »